Ember
by I-write-for-love
Summary: 'A little ember may not seem like much, but on it's own it can cause more damage than imaginable.' There had to be worst lives to be reborn into than that of Roy Mustang's ward. However at the moment Alice couldn't even come up with any. As far as she was concerned, being reborn into Fullmental Alchemist was punishment for all her old sins. Set Pre-Ishbalan war for now...


**Author's Note: Just a little something I'm playing around with. I'm still not sure if I'll continue it yet. Any review or criticism would be helpful, but please no flames-they'll prompt me to only write more just to spite you.**

There had to be worst lives to be reborn into than that of Roy Mustang's ward. However at the moment Alice couldn't even come up with any. As far as she was concerned, being reborn into Fullmental Alchemist was punishment for all her old sins. Oh…if only she'd known that eating her sister's hamburger would place her into such tortures, Alice wouldn't even looked twice at it.

"Again. Draw it again, Alice. And this time try not to make it look like something a three year old drew." The exasperated voice of her guardian ordered. Alice could feel the small piece of chalk in her hands snap at the bored tone in his voice. They had been at this for hours now. Repeating the same simple step of drawing a circle-something which Alice should be a pro at by now. After all, they had been practicing this step for at least four months now. Unfortunately though it seemed that her sucky artistic skills from her past life followed into this one.

A chalk piece came flying at her head, causing her to glare up at the then currently ranked Major. Within in a few years he'd quickly rise to the positions of colonel, brigade-general and eventually general-until then though he was just Major Roy Mustang. The flame alchemist who passed the state alchemy exam barely six months ago. And she was just Alice, the six year old girl who was handed to him literally two months after his passing. "Ever thought the reason why I can't perform alchemy is because I have no soul? Maybe I am a homunculus." Alice muttered, tracing another circle on the ground.

Once again it came out looking like a wobbly scribble rather than a circle. Alice cursed silently to herself, throwing the chalk at the horrendous thing. Her question had been more of a joke than anything, but lately Alice was considering what she said to be an option. It seemed possible yet not at the same time. When Alice had first opened her eyes in this new world, it was only to be met with the homunculi surrounding her. And while her time with them was short, Alice could not forget their whispers of '_the perfect creation,' _that surround her for that time period. Nor could she forget that it was Wrath, who threw her into Mustang's arms, ordering him to take her under his wing and teach Alice all that Roy knew.

But while those factors pointed to her being a fabricate of Father, there were others pointing elsewhere. As far as Alice knew, there was no Ouroboros mark anywhere on her. Nor did she look anything like the other homunculi. In fact if anything she almost looked like a mini female version of Roy-minus a few minor difference such as a slightly darker skin tone and wider more feminine shaped eyes. Then there was the obvious factor of why Wrath would order her to learn alchemy if she had no soul? Those three factors matched with the others didn't add up.

A large hand ruffled her black hair drawing her away from those secret fears. She blinked looking up to see her guardian/mentor smiling down softly at her. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of such a soft expression on his face. Although she knew Roy was capable of showing emotions outside of arrogance, boredom, and annoyance, Alice didn't think she'd ever be given a chance to see them herself. Let alone towards her. However just as it appeared out of nowhere it soon vanished into a smirk. "Calm down kid. Alchemy takes time and practice, it'll be a while before you can do any real transmutation ." Roy comforted, lowering himself to her level.

"I know." Alice admitted. "Anything worth doing takes time, practice and sacrifice. I'm just so frustrated right now. I mean, I can't even get a stupid circle right!"

"Well, it might help if you stopped destroying the chalk." He retorted, gesturing to the newly broken chalk. Her face turned red at the realization she had broken it during her small tantrum. That made it the seventh piece, Alice broke today. If she kept this up, Roy would definitely make her use the shattered remains…again.

Alice sighed fingering the shards on the ground mindlessly. As much as Alice hated to admit it, Roy was right…destroying every drawing utensil in sight wasn't helping the cause and Alice desperately needed to learn alchemy. Not only would it be a great tool in protecting herself from whatever the homunculi had planned for her, but it could very well solve her problem on how to get home. That is…if it were still possible for Alice to go home.

"Come on, a few more circles and then we'll call it quits for the day." Roy drawled, eyeing his ward. He didn't know much about children let alone little girls. Sure he could charm practically any female with a flash of smirk or a fake smile, but that skill only went so far. Plus Alice wasn't some five year old girl, Roy was trying to charm to get into good graces with her elder sister or young widowed mother. Alice was for all intents and purposes his student. Charming her would be of no benefit to either of them.

Her little dark haired head shot up at the mention of quits. A large grin spread across her face threatening to make Roy grin himself. He'd never admit it, but the young girl could be adorable sometimes. "Can we get food afterwards?" Alice asked, excitedly. "And cake! I want cake too! Specifically one with strawberries."

The excitement in her voice caused Roy to slip and a soft smile spread across his lips. It wasn't a surprise Alice wanted cake. She always did after practice. The damn girl was like an addict when it came to sugar. Nearly causing a hole in his wallet from sugar expenses alone.

But if Roy denied her, Alice became a terror all of her own. Nothing he did would stop her from ruining every date, every flirtation and every move he made on a woman. Nothing except sugar that is…besides when it came to things outside alchemy, Roy often slacked on his duties as guardian. Mostly because it was too much work to rear the girl-partly because while Roy didn't want to admit it, he was a little fond of his ward. "You know eating all that sugar is going to make you fat?" he stated.

She gave him an indignant look. "I'm six. I don't get fat, unlike you-now cough up the sugar!"

"Circles first, then we'll talk." Roy replied, moving back to his seat. She gave him on last pout, before turning back to scattered chalk pieces. The small smile of his face grew slightly more as he watched Alice pick up one of the longer pieces and continue to work. So maybe Roy was more than a _little _fond of his ward.


End file.
